Whatever The Case May Be
by October Sky
Summary: My P.O.V. on Whatever the Case May Be. Kate and Jack are endangered while searching for the missing Claire, as the mysteries of Kate's past unfold. Edited as of 3.3.06.
1. Findings

**Chapter One:**

**Findings**

It was night, late, around ten, Kate guest. The waves crashed gently against her ankles as she walked along the beach. The tide was now ten feet onto the island, which she was smart enough to know was a bad sign. Wreckage had been drug away from the ocean, but tomorrow it was planned to drag it at least a little into the jungle, if not as far as the caves. Suddenly something caught her eye: a bag, floating up to the shore. Reaching down, she picked it up.

The duffel was a dark, royal blue, drenched with water. She pulled off a few strands of seaweed, and struggled with the zipper. The contents inside the back were soaked, except for a box, that Kate was sure contained jewlery. She took out the box, and opened it. What she saw shocked her. A little miniature plane was in the box with a made up flight number 5025. She picked it up, and then noticed a little piece of paper(unharmed by the water) that had been sticking under it. She read the writing- it looked like a card.

'_Sammy, good luck on your first flight! Got this for good luck!'_

_-Love, Aunt Lynn_

Good luck? Kate thought. How ironic. But the plane seemed to haunt her, make her paranoid somehow. She looked around, getting the subconscious feeling that someone was watching her. The closest person was a man(she couldn't tell who) watching a girl who was sleeping on the beach, by the fire. She looked back at the plane, and was drawn into the past...

She remembered a door opening and James, her present boyfriend, entering, or at least, he acted like her boyfriend. He'd always be around for love, for money, for dinner. Never to say how he loved her, or to even touch a conversation on a future. So she considered them just friends. Friends who kissed, that was. Rushing into the room, Jams grabbed her, closing the door, pulling her into the center of the room. His eyes were wild with excitement.

"What?" She asked, impatiently. "What?"

"I got you a job," James said proudly.

"You- you what?" Kate asked. "I've been out of work ever since.."

"I know," James said, his hands on her shoulders, "but you can put that behind you because you are now the proud supervisor of the nightshift at Wilamson's Union Bank."

He took her by the shoulders, and for the first time, Kate was too shocked to kiss him.

"Oh my God," she said to herself, "you're serious? This is real?"

"Hell yeah," James said, grinning, "real as gold, sweetheart."

But something about that grin haunted her, and she would have to wait until eleven that night to find out why..

"Night owl?" Someone asked behind her, jerking Kate from her thoughts.

But still, she couldn't help but to smile a little to herself with her back turned to no other than Sawyer, the one man no one else could stand, but the one man that made something inside Kate smile at the most ridiculous of times.

"It's what?" Sawyer asked. "Eleven, eleven thirty?"

"Why do you care?" Kate asked, her back still to him.

"We're about to be engulfed by the blue wonder of the world and all you can do is walk along the edge of it?" He asked.

By the sound, he was coming closer.

"Turning poetic?" She asked him.

She wasn't going to turn around now- no way was Kate going to let him think she might think he was the least bit charming.

"Learn a lot from readin' them books," he said, "even the ones about the bunnies."

Kate shook her head, finally turning around, fighting off the half-smile that was coming on.

"So what are you doing out here, Sawyer?"

"Lookin' for some cigarets," he said.

Sawyer's drawn-out face first became apparent to her then. Was he suffering from withdrawals?

"Just about ran out," Sawyer said.

He reached down, and tore off a piece of grass that was growing in the sand and stuck it in his mouth, like a temporary smoke.

"Figured people wouldn't notice their stuff is missing while they're asleep," he finished.

"Or you could just ask someone," Kate pointed out.

Sawyer laughed, as if saying 'yeah right', but Kate knew enough about him to know that those two words would never come out of his mouth. It was too uncharacteristic.

"You just don't know me, do ya Freckles?" He asked, eyeing her.

She was about to reply, and make a sarcastic comment about why he kept calling her 'Freckles', when there was a rustling in the bushes that lined the sand. They both turned and looked. As expected, there was nothing there. Then there was more rustling, a little louder this time. Kate glanced over at the man who had been sitting by the fireside, only to see that the fire was now burnt out, and the man apparently asleep. The bushes rustled again. This time, Sawyer and Kate slowly stepped forward, but carefully, knowing that they actually weren't that far from the sandline. The leaves rustled again. Kate stepped forward to get a closer look, but Sawyer put a hand out to stop her.

"Stay close, sweetheart," he said, as serious as she figured he could get.

She glared at him, and not about to let him tell her what to do, she begin o step forward. He followed close by her. Suddenly, the rustling began getting softer, traveling back the way it came from. All was quiet again, until a loud sound that sounded of steel moving erose in the night. Or at least, they thought it had, because looking around the beach, no one else had noticed it. Then all was silent again. Sawyer didn't even look at Kate, or say anything. He just ran.

"Sawyer!" Kate called, trying to run after him.

She wondered why none of the others had woken up. Sawyer was running full speed now, and Kate now had no choice but to keep following him, just to prove to herself that she hadn't gone crazy. All through this it felt like a dream. She followed Sawyer as he tore through the jungle, chasing nothing.

Maybe we're both losing our minds, she bagan to think.

Sawyer continued running for a few yards. Kate followed the best she could. Then suddenly he stopped, just right there. He was about to go over the ledge, and caught Kate as well as himself before he did. They looked down, and were startled.

It seemed to be the most magnificent site either of the had seen. It was a waterfall that stood twenty feet off the ground. Bellow was a pool of water that must've been ten feet deep. Even at night, the waterfall glowed. The glow had a way of seducing you, pulling you into it. The glistening water had a way seemed to make the two forget that they were on an island in the middle of nowhere, forget that they were in danger of wild animals, and forget that they had just been arguing. Kate and Sawyer looked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking.

"Jump on three?" Sawyer confirmed.

"Yeah," Kate nodded.

"One," Sawyer began in a low voice that didn't seem to be his, "two.."

He glanced at Kate and took her hand. She didn't know why, but she accepted it. Maybe it was out of fear, or maybe it was on the spur of the moment.

"Three."

The two jumped, holding hands, letting out a scream. Not of fear, but excitement, like two kids riding a roller coaster. They hit the water at the same time, hands breaking a part. The water was neither warm nor cold, but felt perfect, like there was a magic touch to it. They let themselves sink four feet, then floated back up. Sawyer ran his long, wet hair back, pulling it out of his face, as Kate did the same.

"Why did we do that?" Sawyer asked, looking at her.

"I don't know," Kate said, catching her breath.

Sawyer suddenly turned as something bumped into him. Kate did the same, and they soon realized that the waterfall was not just a waterfall. Sawyer picked up what had drifted by him: the top of a seat. Just then, something floated in between them: the bone of an arm. Kate screamed loudly, and Sawyer covered her mouth with his hand, hoping they wouldn't draw any attention. The bone floated on, and Kate calmed down a bit.

"Let's get out of here," Sawyer said, a little spooked.

Kate nodded. Once on land, Kate bent over, coughing up water. Sawyer began to ring out his shirt. Kate began to straighten up, but stopped at another piece of wreckage that floated by: a closed briefcase. It was hard, black, and expensive. Kate bent down, and drug it out of the pool of water.

"What's that?" Sawyer asked, bending down beside Kate.

Kate shrugged. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Another piece of wreckage floated by, but as it grew closer, Sawyer picked it up. It was no wreckage: it was a gun. He glanced at Kate.

"Gonna tell Jack?"

But she couldn't answer, because she recognized that case, she'd no it from anywhere...

_She remembered her short stay in jail, uninformed and cuffed, watching as she was pointed out to the marshal, remembering his briefcase._

_She remembered the marshal's hand, placing her file with her name at the top, inside the case and locking it._

_And then the marshal's hand dropped the key in his pocket.._


	2. Trouble

**Chapter Two: **

**Trouble**

"What the hell happened to you two?" Jack asked, doing a bad job of trying to keep his voice down.

Kate glanced at Sawyer, realizing that the last thing she wanted was for Jack to find out that she had run into the jungle after a nightmare, and Sawyer seemed to read her mind, of course, giving himself the benefit.

"Heard something in the jungle," he said with ease, "figured I'd play hero for a while."

Jack looked at Kate for reassurance. She looked at Sawyer, surprised he would cover for her, even if it was to gloat for himself. Kate nodded.

"I was.. going back to the beach," she said, a little less assured than Sawyer, "I- left something there."

Sawyer was careful not to glance her way, though it was obvious he considered her a horrible liar.

"And what?" Jack asked. "Someone had a trick bucket of water hanging over a tree?"

"Hey, what's that?" Michael interrupted, waking up.

"They 'found it'," Jack explained, glancing at Sawyer, unconvinced.

"Believe it or not," Kate muttered.

The survivors looked at each other- what next?

"We can't do anything without a key," Michael finally said.

"We're not dropping the search to look for a key," Jack argued.

It was quiet again. Trying not to draw attention, Jack, Michael, and Kate looked at Sawyer, who they knew would not volunteer to look for Claire.

"Fine," Sawyer said, defeated, "I'll look for your damn key."

"Thanks," Jack said, as unappreciative as you could get.

The next morning dawned early for the four survivors who hadn't slept since their awakening, especially Kate, who couldn't get the alley scene out of her head. Jack, who hadn't slept that night to begin with, was worried about Kate, Sawyer was haunted by the magical presence the waterfall had seemed to have, and Michael was just a light sleeper. Naturally, Jack was the first up, and he and Kate were ready to go by seven. A small party of Jack, Kate, Michael, Scot, Steve, and some others were ready to go.

"We're heading up the north trail," Jack was saying, "I'm thinking they could've taken the two down the separate paths. Since we know the way, Kate and I are following where we found Charlie, we'll look for Claire. You guys need to take the opposite route, and look for Boone and Locke."

Everyone but Michael nodded and headed off. Stopping Jack, Michael began to talk.

"Why don't we take the other route?" Michael asked. "There's more of us. Whoever got Charlie and Claire- I mean, they're obviously more powerful than us."

"You don't know what you're up against," Jack said, not looking at Michael, beginning to walk off.

"And you do?" Michael called after as he left.

Jack met up with Kate fifteen feet ahead.

"What was that about?" Kate asked.

"What?" Jack said, cluelessly.

"Maybe they're right," Kate said, "are we really going to go up against god knows what's out there?"

"We know our way around up there," Jack tried to explain.

"But they don't know where they're going," Kate continued, uncertain about Jack's decision, "the last thing we need is for a second search party is lost."

"Locke knows what he's doing," argued Jack.

Kate didn't contradict him this time, and after a moments pause he began to worry.

"Something.. wrong?"

"What?" Kate asked, gaze following the ground.

"You didn't argue," he said, staring after her, "that's a first."

"I guess I'm just tired," Kate said.

It was a half lie. She was tired, but that wasn't what bothered her.

"Kate look, you didn't have to come," he said, "you can always-"

"No," she said finally, "I wanted to come."

Jack watched as she went ahead of him.

Meanwhile, Boone and Locke were hastily trying to uncover the steel. Plants and useless soil covered the cold stuff, and by then their hands were caked with mud. An hour into it, Locke began to notice how drawn out Boone was looking, the change in his breathing, and how Boone kept wiping the sweat off his face with his sleeve, in a nervous manner.

"You all right?" Locke finally asked.

"I'm fine," Boone lied, "I'm just going to- take a break."

Locke nodded, turning back to his work, determined to uncover whatever it was they found. He had almost forgotten about Charlie and Claire. Boone, on the other hand, had lied completely. He felt like hell, head pounding, blurred vision, and dizziness taking over him-

He returned back to Locke five minutes later, feeling slightly relieved. Not saying a word to Locke, he began to dig up a patch of moss. Suddenly something cut his left hand, which immediately flew up to his mouth.

"Damn," he muttered.

"What?" Locke asked.

Hand now blood-free, Boone pulled apart the moss and what he found startled him- a handle. He glanced at Locke. They gripped their hands around the handle and pulled.

"Kate?" Jack called around the same time.

He looked around. Somewhere on the trail Kate had gotten behind and he hadn't noticed.

"Kate?" He called again, getting worried.

Kate was walking through the jungle alone, not too far from Jack. She had been able to get away, but she didn't know how far she was or how long she had. All she knew was that she had to get to where she hid the case and fast. And it was difficult with the haunting memories-

"Let's go through this, again," an interrogator said, annoyed that his victim wasn't working with him.

Across the table from him sat Kate, in loose old blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt. Her long hair was a mess, dried blood had formed cuts on her hands, and she was freezing, but Kate wasn't about to complain.

"Did you or did you not murder of Frank Marcutio?" The interrogator asked, his stern, straight face haunting her eyes.

"No," Kate replied in a low, simple voice.

The interrogators face grew darker, his voice deep.

"Did you or did you not murder.."

Kate could never remember anything after that..

Jack looked around once again for Kate as he began to backtrack. The worry grew, and the thought that something could've happened to her ate up his guilt. That was when he felt the hand on his shoulder. He was spun around to come face to face with Kate, uncharacteristically dark and crazed.

"Kate, what-?"

"What did you do?" Kate asked, not taking her grip off his shoulders.

"What do you mean-?"

"What did you do with the marshal," she said, eyes boring into his.

Jack had buried the marshall only a few hours after he had died. Convienetly, it was actually only about twenty minutes from where they were headed, but Jack wasn't willing to put off the search. Kate was ahead of him, seeming to know where to go after he told her. She stopped at the site: a single cross made of two pieces of wood on top of what she knew was the marshal's grave. She stared at it long enough for Jack to catch up with her.

"Kate, what is it?" He asked, knowing he wouldn't get a straight answer.

She finally moved after a few seconds, circling the grave, and then dropped tot he ground.

"What?" He said, more concerned now than ever.

Kate looked up at him.

"Help me dig him up."

An hour later the marshal's body was fully dug up. A few flies, which Jack had shooed off, circled the marshal's pale, dead face. Kate had seemed to calm down a little at last. At least enough to ask Jack a question.

"Why'd you do it?" She asked softly, staring pitifully at the body.

"Do what?" He asked, drawn in himself.

"Bury the marshal," Kate said, "why didn't you just burn it with the others?"

Jack stiffened. He knew exactly why, but he wasn't about to give into Kate.

"I don't know," he lied, "I just felt like.. I had to."

He snapped out of it, and remembered that he should be the ones asking the questions.

"Why did you want to dig him up so badly?" He asked. "What is it you want?"

As he asked this, he had watched Kate's hand find the marshal's pocket. It brought out a key. Now he understood, but wasn't able to say anything. Kate had run off again.

"_Now look," her attorney had said, "your chances here are few and far between."_

_Kate, now in a prison uniform, was staring at him across from a table where they were talking._

"_I didn't kill my father," Kate repeated._

"_I know," her attorney said calmly, "but you were there when he died, and your DNA is on the body and evidence."_

"_Did you participate in the armed robbery at Wilson Bank?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Did you kill Frank Marcutio?"_

"_No."_

"_Dammit Kate!" The lawyer shouted._

_His face got dark, and he bent down, level with Kate._

"_Your odds at getting out of this are few and far between," said the lawyer._

"_Then yell me what the odds are," Kate said with little hope._

_Not wanting to tell her, the lawyer looked away.._

Kate's running hadn't slowed down since leaving the marshal's body.

"Kate!" Jack called, only a few feet behind her.

She begin to slow down as she went down the hill, and found herself in the patch of bushes where she hid the case the night before.

"Kate!" Jack called as she drug it out. "Slow-"

He didn't finish when he saw what she was doing. Leaning over, he caught his breath, and then, not saying a word, watched her every move. Her fingers fumbled with the key, but she finally managed to fit it in the lock. The case popped open. Jack was taken aback by what was in the case: Two knives, a shotgun, and an evidence bag with a bullet inside, all on top of a file labeled 'Katelyn Austen'. It was at that moment that Jack realized he had never known Kate's last name, and it was then that it really sunk in that she was a fugitive.

"What's this?" He said.

It was as though Kate had forgotten that Jack was even there. She took the shotgun, and put it in her back pocket. She moved the knife over and picked up the file. Jack watched as she opened it. Inside was a detailed report with a smaller clip of her mug shot over it. One word covered the page in red: GUILTY. Kate could barely breathe.

"Guilty?" She said softly to herself. "But.. how?"

The answer she got startled her. Jack had snatched the gun that was sticking out of her pocket. Kate spun around. The gun was pointed straight at her.

"Who exactly are you?" He asked from behind the gun.

Kate backed up a little, hands raised.

"Be careful with that," she warned.

"Tell me what you did," Jack said, dead serious, "no more secrets."

"I can't do that," she said, breathing slowly.

"Dammit Kate!" Jack yelled. "Why can't you just tell me what you did? What is your loosing your dignity going to do now?"

"Jack," Kate said slowly, "Jack, put down the gun."

"Tell me Kate!"

Then Kate did something he hadn't expected. She grabbed for the gun, because she knew the one he had was the only one still loaded. The two struggled, and then fell to the ground. Kate rolled over, on top of Jack, still fighting for the gun. Jack regained control, and managed to roll over. He didn't want to hurt Kate, or appear to hurt her. All he wanted was the answers he thought he deserved.

"Kate, come on!" Jack shouted.

They rolled again. Kate took her left hand off the gun, and gripped Jack's neck with it. He gasped for air.

"Let go of the gun!" She yelled.

Jack began to grow pale, and his eyes got wider. He finally gave up, and let go. The gun fell into Kate's hands. Breathing a sigh of relief, she rolled off of him, staring at the weapon. Jack laid there, trying to regain his breath. After a minute he sat up.

"What was that about?" He asked from the breath he could get.

Any answer she could give was drawn out by loud shrieks of 'Help!' They glanced at each other. Putting the fight behind them, they ran after the noise. Kate had the gun, but it was clear the case was left.

They stopped fifteen minutes later in a clearing in the jungle. Jack looked around.

"Where do you think it came from?" He asked.

Kate shook her head. She glanced at the red marks on Jack's neck, and began to feel guilty.

"Who do you think it was?" She asked him.

"I couldn't tell," he said, shaking his head.

"Think it had to do with Ethan?"

"I dunno," Jack said, wiping his forehead, "maybe we can get there before-"

He didn't want to say 'it's too late' but was cut off anyway.

"Too late," he said dark voice behind them.

Jack and Kate slowly turned around.

Ethan," Jack said slowly, hardly able to comprehend it.

Ethan held a gun that looked too familiar: Kate's gun.

"Maybe you just didn't move fast enough," Ethan said. "Maybe not."

Jack and Kate glanced at each other and knew: they were in trouble.


	3. Taken

**Chapter Three:** Taken

Boone and Locke were walking through a dark tunnel. While outside, the flashlight was dim from landing on the steel, but once the two had lowered themselves into the bunker, the light had grown unusually bright, lighting up the entire tunnel.

"Keep that light down!" Locke whispered.

"What good does lighting the floor do?" Boone shot back.

"What good will it do when someone up ahead sees the light?"

Boone shut up. They walked in silence until Boone stepped on something hard.

"Ow!" He hissed. "Damn!"

He stepped back- another handle.

"Why am I always the one to find them?" He muttered to himself.

Locke just grinned, and pulled on the handle.

"Stairs," he observed.

Boone began to step down, but Locke put a hand out to stop him.

"They might not be sturdy," he explained.

Bending down, Locke tapped on the stairs with the flashlight. He looked up at Boone and nodded. Slowly, they lowered themselves down the stairwell, which had no sides, and was really only three feet steep. Boone shone the light a little ways out.

"Great," he muttered, "another tunnel."

"I think we're in luck this time," Locke said, looking ahead.

"How?" Boone asked.

Locke looked down.

"Footsteps," Locke noted, seeing the scrapes in the worn floor, "and drag marks."

"Claire?" Boone wandered.

"I don't think so," Locke said.

Cautiously, they went further down the tunnel. It was dark beyond the flashlight, but it was obvious the tunnel opened up ahead. Just before the entrance, Locke began to move against the wall, motioning for Boone to do the same. He peeked into the open space, listening for any sign of movement. None. Carefully, Locke shown the light in a little ways. What he saw startled him.

It was Jack and Kate, slouched lazily against the far wall. Kate's head was leaning on Jack's shoulder. Both were bound at the hands, gagged, but not blindfolded. Boone saw his reaction.

"What?" He whispered.

"Jack and Kate," Locke said, still shocked.

Locke wasn't certain from a distance, but he had a good guess that Jack's face was bruised and possibly Kate's. He turned to Boone.

"Look," he said, "this is very important. It's likely that Claire's nearby. I'm going to unbound them, but I need you to take them back to the camp. I'll look for Claire."

"Are you sure?" Boone asked. "I mean, I can look-"

"Let's just help them," Locke sighed.

He took one last look back, then turned back to Jack and Kate.

"Jack!" He whispered. "Jack!"

Jack had never felt so sore in his life. Something heavy laid on his shoulder, which aced. Slowly, he came out of unconsciousness. What had happened. But then he remembered- Ethan. The kidnapping, and-

Kate.

What if something had happened to her? He was beginning to have painful, distant memories of finding Charlie hung. He's never be able to live with himself. Then suddenly, he heard a sound from far away. But it couldn't be. From what he remembered, he was far underground. The voice didn't stop. It begun to dig into his pounding head. He almost wanted it to stop..

"Jack!" The voice whispered. "Jack! Wake up!"

Very slowly, Jack's heavy eyes began to open in pain. He groaned. It was a moment before his vision became clear. An outline of a crouched body became more and more visible until he recognized who it was-

"Locke?" He groaned, trying to sit up.

Locke reached out to stop him. Someone else begun to untie his hands, but he couldn't tell who. The weight was lifted off his shoulders, but the pain didn't decrease. Pain shot through him as he tried to turn his head, and his vision darkened.

"Careful son," said Locke.

Jack couldn't tell who Locke was talking to.

"Kate?" He tried to ask.

He realized he didn't want to hear the answer. If Kate was dead, he'd kill himself. How could he of been stupid enough to lead her through the jungle like that? God, for all knew, they could've been eaten.

"Right beside you," Locke said reassuringly.

A huge brick of relief came off of him. Jack would've smiled, to at least let them know he was alive, but even his jaw was sore. He then remembered being hit, at least a few times.

"Now Jack, you need to listen to me," Locke said in a hushed voice. "I'm no doctor, but you need to try and work with me."

Jack started to nod, but had to stop.

"Try and look at me," Locke said, unsure of what he was doing.

Jack did, though his eyes seemed to only be able to open halfway.

"Blink a few times," Locke ordered.

It hurt, but Jack managed three blinks.

"Vision any better?" Locke asked.

Jack's eyes blinked rapidly a bit, but then his vision cleared a little, and then surprisingly, his vision was better. Where had Locke learned that trick.

"Do you think you can stand?" Locke asked, seriously.

Jack nodded.

"Okay," Locke said, relieved, "Boone, still think you can get them back okay?"

"Yeah," Boone answered.

So that was the other person. He should've remembered, knowing Locke and Boone had gone down the other path, but that seemed like days ago.

"Good," said Locke, "I'll go look for Claire."

Claire.. how could Jack have forgotten about Claire? What had happened to her? She could be down deep further, and with the baby..

"Good luck," Locke said.

Jack was sure Boone nodded. Put in the uneasy position of getting the two injured back to camp, Boone wasn't sure what to say, from what Jack could tell. Of course, Boone was the former lifeguard, he had to know something about medical care.

"So Jack.." Boone started unsure of himself, like he would any other conversation, "want to try to stand?

Jack tried to move, but couldn't. He felt furious with himself- he's was supposed to be the doctor, not the patient. How was the island going to survive if their only doctor couldn't even stand? He tried again. He wavered a bit, but Boone caught him. Jack blinked a few times, and realized his vision was almost fully cleared. Boone smiled.

"Good," he said to himself, "yeah. So.. I guess I better help Kate now.."

"I'm fine," came Kate's sore voice from the floor.

Any other time, Jack would've rolled his eyes, but it was too painful. Typical Kate, always trying to be brave. Determined to help now more than ever, Jack blink a few more times, hard, and saw the he could finally see clearly. The first thing he noticed was the damp area they were cramped in. The second was how exhausted Boone looked.

"Come on Kate," Jack said, gaining a little of his voice back.

"Jack.." Kate said hopefully.

"Yeah," he assured, "I'm here."

He looked at her, then Boone, who seemed more than willing to hand over the doctor job for a while.

"Look we don't need to to try and be brave here," Jack said, throat slightly sore as he spoke his first full sentence since gaining conscious. He glanced at Boone again. "Help me get her up."

Boone nodded, this was something he could do. They bent down, Jack still sore, and pulled Kate up. She wasn't as harmed as Jack, but had a bruise on the side of her face from where Jack supposed she was knocked out. She seemed severely sore, and exhausted. Guilt began to over him. Trying to shake it out, he spoke to Kate.

"Can you walk?" He asked.

"I think I twisted my ankle somehow," she said, barely audible.

"Let's.. get her out of here," he said, working the words out slowly to Boone, trying to forget about his own injuries.

Boone nodded. Jack placed one of Kate's arms around his good shoulder, and Boone took the other. Taking it slow, the three began to make their way out of the damp, closed in area.


	4. Home Again

**Chapter Four:** Home Again

Three hours had seemed like days, but somehow the three had managed to make it back to the caves. Boone, now the main support for the two, was ready to collapse as relief overwhelmed him at the sight of people.

"I need some help over here!" Boone shouted, too exhausted to realize there were at least a dozen people staring at him.

Michael hurried over to take Kate before she fell, and Steve helped Jack, who didn't accept the help generously.

"I'm fine," he insisted, pushing Steve to the side.

All Jack really wanted was to sit down, and maybe drink some water. Shannon rushed over at the sound of Boone's voice, and immediate relief overcame her. To everyone's surprise, she threw her arms around him, hugging him as if they hadn't seen each other in ages. Boone staggered a bit, trying to let go. Shannon balanced him.

"Nice to see you too," Boone muttered.

Someone got a bottle of water from beside the small stream, and handed it to Shannon, who handed it to Boone.

"Where's Locke?"

Jack turned from where he was, and was surprised to see Sayid sitting on a rock with his leg out in front of him. Last he saw, Sayid was under drug care and hardly able to walk.

"Went to look for Claire," Boone said, sitting down.

"You didn't find her?" Michael asked, looking up from where he was beside Kate.

Boone shook his head. A long moment of silence passed as the castaways took the information in, knowing that their efforts had been proven useless, causing even more damage. In attemp to break the silence, Jack stood up. His head exploded with pain, but Jack was smart enough to know that the tension wouldn't go down if everyone knew their doctor was hurt.

"I'm going to go get some stuff from-" he stepped as he motioned towards the caves where all the medical supplies were.

It wasn't until then that Jack realized how bad off he was. He didn't know what Ethan had done to him, but all in one effort to take just one step on his own, his head began to pound worse than ever, and his vision wavered. He felt dizzy. Hurley caught his arms as they faught for balance, the world growing dimmer by the second.

"Dude, maybe you should sit down," Hurley said, letting go of his arm.

"No, I'm fine," Jack insisted again.

He tried taking one more step, but this time his body completely shut down. His head was so overwhelmed with pain that he felt himself falling.. and that was the last thing Jack remembered.

The world was black. Voices echoed from a distance, very far out from what it sounded like. Unlike before, Jack couldn't feel anything. He was frozen.

I'm dying.. he thought.. I'm dead.. I'm..

Suddenly he felt something: the cool slap of a hand against his cheek. The slap got harder and harder, and the yelling became clearer.

"Jack.. Jack!"

He knew he was alive because Jack could tell it wasn't Locke this time, but a female voice. But he couldn't tell exactly..

"Jack.. Jack!"

He felt his head move side to side. He tried to open his eyes but they didn't work.

"Jack.. come on Jack..!"

The voice grew nearer, then further. Jack tried to open his eyes again, and this time it worked. Slowly, light brightened his vision, which he soon realized wasn't very bright. He was in the caves, that was one thing he could tell, and the second(which he guessed should've been the first) was that Kate was leaning over him. The slaps and voice had obviously belonged to her.

"Kate.." he moaned.

Kate smiled, relieved.

"Thank God," she said, moving to the side.

Someone who Jack couldn't see helped him sit up.

"Gave us a scare," Michael said, handing Jack some water.

"How long was I out?" Jack asked, taking the water gratefully.

"Ten minutes," Hurley answers. "You weren't breathing."

"I wasn't?" Jack asked.

His first thought was tat Kate had given him CPR, and he was embarrassed to admit that he was actually hoping for that to be the case. The feeling of the cold water triggered his energy, and the coolness of it made him shiver.

"You okay?" Kate asked, obviously concerned.

"Yeah," Jack said, trying to push her back, "fine."

"That's what you said last time," Hurley reminded him, "before.."

Jack glared. Michael sighed, and decided it was his turn to lay down the law.

"Maybe you should take it easy tonight," Michael advised, "just get some sleep."

"I can't sleep," Jack said, shaking his head.

"No," Kate said, agreeing with Michael, "you really should-"

"I can't sleep, all right!" Jack shouted, standing up.

The sudden raise of his voice started those around him, even those who had parted from the small group. Kate looked concerned, but more annoyed now. Why wouldn't Jack do anything to help himself? Her question stood in the air as Jack took a last look to the ground, rubbing the side of his head, and stormed off.

"What the hell was that about?" Kate asked, following him as Jack stumbled out of the caves, still feeling a little woozy.

It hadn't taken Kate long to catch up, even with a hurt angle, which she was quickly getting used to.

"Go sit down Kate," Jack said, not even looking back to her.

Jack took one of the pill capsules off of a makeshift table. He popped open the top, and threw two into his mouth, easily swallowing them. Kate watched his every move.

"What are those?" She asked, worrying that Jack was on some kind of drug.

He turned to her for the first time, showing the pills to her.

"Aspirin," he said, showing her. "Want some?"

Kate shook her head.

"What is with you?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Jack retorted cluelessly.

"Putting on the bravery act!" She exclaimed. "You were just unconscious for ten minutes, and that doesn't even start the list! No one's going to care if you just.. take a break for once."

"I'm fine Kate," he insisted, looking at her straight in the eye, "seriously."

"Sure," she said taking one last look at him as she began to leave, "whatever."

Kate walked back towards the caves to get some water, but she found herself not thinking about Jack, but the night that had changed her life..

_She was lost in the bank, and beginning to wonder if she was even supposed to be there. She walked through the isle of the back vaults in the bank, but a crash stopped her. She turned. Nothing. Silently and carefully, she moved forward. Suddenly she was grabbed. She tried to scream but it became muffled as a gloved hand covered her mouth. She was put up against the wall._

"_Here's the thing," the robber said, "there's no night jobs at banks."_

_Kate was shoved into the now open fault._

"_What the hell!" She exclaimed._

_The robber pulled off his mask. It was James. He was sweating, and looked slightly nervous._

"_Hell sweetheart," he said, showing off the same mischievous grin that he did earlier. _

_The same grin that had haunted her all day. _

"_What the hell are you doing?" She demanded, taking a subconscious step back._

"_It's more like what you are doing," James said. "The bank closes at seven. It's ten. I went and opened the door so you could get in."_

"_What?" She said, confused. "Why? I don't understand.."_

"_There's nothing to understand," he said quickly._

_He took a step towards her, causing her to be trapped against the wall. Three other men dressed in black entered then, grabbing all the money they could and stuffing it in bags._

"_But what you're going to do," James said in a low voice, "is stand back and let us do the work."_

"_But.. why do you..?"_

"_No questions," he hissed, "just let us do our job."_

"_Our job?" Kate cried. "What the hell are you-"_

"_Shut up!" James shouted, staring her in the eye._

_Kate stared back, and made up her mind. She moved to the side, trying to escape. She wasn't fast enough. James brought his arm around, and smacked his knuckles against the side of her face. Her breath faltered. Spinning, she fell to the ground and gasped for air. She touched her hand to her face and brought back blood. She looked up at him, stunned. He had never even motioned to hit her before._

"_This didn't have to go the hard way," James said as his crew of robbers filed out._

_Kate couldn't answer, she could only stay fallen on the floor, trying to regain her breath._

"_What's going on back here?" A gruff voice bellowed._

_Kate and James turned._

"_Thanks for your help," James said, smirking, "see you in the morning."_

_Footsteps began to echo, coming closer in closer. James took a gun out of his back pocket, and gave it to Kate._

"_You might need that."_

_Then he left, as he came. The footsteps began coming closer. Kate struggled to get up. Suddenly the footsteps stopped._

"_Who are you?"_

_Kate turned, causing her head to begin pounding. A man appeared in the doorway of the vault. He looked to be in his fifties, with gray hair. He was wearing a business suit, and Kate figured he worked at the bank, or possibly even owned it. Kate looked at the name on his jacket: Frank Marcino. _

"_What's going on here?" Marcino demanded._

_Frank looked from the gun in Kate's hand to the money that as left on the table, and began to play out his view of what happened. Then he looked at Kate._

"_What?" Kate asked, not sure if she was still breathing. Then she understood. "What? No.. no.."_

_Frank began to take out a phone. Kate grabbed his arm._

"_Wait!" She said, looking like she was about to start crying. "You don't understand! It was set up! I swear!"_

"_Set up?" Marcito asked. "Then where'd the gun come from?"_

_Kate looked at him with pleading eyes, then let go of Marcito's arm._

"_I'm calling the police," Maricto said, not feeling at all sorry for Kate._

_He began to dial, but never finished. There was a loud pop, and the last thing Frank Marcito remembered was the bloody face of a young woman staring down at him, as if begging for forgiveness; frightened, in shock at what she thought she could never do._

Kate continued to walk with a pain look on her face, beginning to think that maybe this island was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Ten minutes later Jack was opening another capsule of medicine: Tylenol. He leaned against a tree, a foot propped on a rock, distancing himself from everyone else. On the far side of the fireside was Charlie, who was still staring into the fire. He was startled to here a voice.

"Never thought I'd find myself in this position."

Jack smiled slightly, nodding, knowing who it was.

"Rose," he said.

"I saw Kate trying to talk to you," Rose admitted kindly, "she's right. You need your rest."

"If everyone knew their doctor was in bad shape-"

"But a sick doctor won't help anyone," Rose reminded him, "you need to take care of yourself."

She handed Jack a bottle of water. He hesitated, and then took it. They stood in silence. Jack glanced at Charlie, feeling helpless.

"Not that I don't like talking to you," Jack said, still holding the unopened water in his hands, "but I can think of someone who needs your help more than me."

Rose followed his gaze to Charlie, and understood. She walked over to Charlie, trying to keep her presence low. Charlie didn't move or even acknowledge that she was there.

"It's Charlie right?" Rose asked, trying to start a conversation.

Charlie didn't answer.

"From what I hear," Rose said, "you're very lucky, Charlie."

She stole a glance to the rope burns on his neck.

"If I'm lucky," Charlie said in a low voice, "why didn't Claire survive?"

Rose looked at him, wondering if he knew more about the situation than he was saying.

"We don't know that she's dead," said Rose.

Charlie didn't say anything, or change expressions.

"And you're very lucky to have all these people who will risk their lives to save you," Rose commented.

"They should've left me there," Charlie muttered. "I should've died-"

"Don't think like that," Rose said, "don't-"

Charlie cut her off, raising his voice a little, surprising her.

"You have no idea what it's like!" Charlie argued.

Across the fire Jack pretended not to notice.

"This was supposed to be my second chance!" Charlie continued. "And then I had to go and act like a bloody idiot!"

"You're not an idiot," Rose said calmly.

"I should've gone to get Jack!" Charlie said.

Other survivors walked by, not daring to say a word or even glance at Charlie. It was as if this was all he had been thinking in the past days, and now was his time to get it all out.

"I should've gone!" He repeated. "But I left it up to- Ethan. And now.. and now.."

Charlie couldn't continue. It was the weakest he had ever felt, and the closest he had ever come to crying. Jack glanced at Charlie from the side, and then got up, giving him his space.

"It's all right," Rose said, trying to calm Charlie down.

Charlie's hand began to shake out of nerves. Rose took it, holding his hand in hers.

"It's all right," she repeated softly.

"Shannon right?" Sayid said, approaching her.

Shannon looked up. They were on the beach, and she was laying in a seat, taken from the plane, in short shirts and a tank top. She sat down a magazine that she was reading.

"Yeah," she answered, looking at him. "What?"

Sayid bent down next to her, showing Shannon a few sheets of paper and maps.

"What's that?" Shannon asked, glancing at the sheets of paper he held.

"Notes I took from the french woman," Sayid answered, "her name's Danielle. Danielle Rousseau."

Shannon eyed him.

"Okay.." she said cluelessly, "what does this have to do with me?"

"You translated the message on the transceiver," Sayid said.

Shannon cut him off.

"Yeah, but that was-" she started, not wanting to get into this.

Sayid interrupted.

"I don't think it's hard French," Sayid said desperately, "please. If we can figured out names of places-"

"Wait, hold on," she said, "places.. on the island?"

"We might be able to figure out where we are," Sayid finished.

He looked at Shannon, eyes full of hope. It was then Shannon realized that she was their last chance, unless some foreigner stepped up and began talking.

"All right," she finally said, letting out a breath of nerves that were already starting to build up within herself.

Sayid let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I'll do it," she agreed.

"Thank you," Sayid said, taking out a map.

Shannon looked at it. It was a map of an island. The shoreline was outlined in bold, and various places were marked.

"This.." Shannon started, looking at the map in amazement, "this is where we are?"

"It might be," Sayid said, resting his arm on the head of her chair.

Shannon didn't swipe it away.

"What am I looking for?" She asked. "Specifically?"

Sayid thought about it, and finally answered.

"Black Rock," he said, "a place called Black Rock. Do you know the words for.."

"Yeah, yeah," Shannon answered, engulfed in the map. She read every place carefully. "But.. Sayid.."

"What?" He asked, confused.

"There's no 'Black Rock' on here," she said, looking at him.

A half an hour later, Shannon and Sayid were sitting a few feet away from Charlie and Rose by the fire in the caves. Sayid was sprawled amongst the rocks, and Shannon was seated on one beside him.

"It's not possible," Sayid said.

He had been repeating it over and over for the past thirty minutes.

"It's not on here," Shannon said, going through the maps, "not on any of these."

"It just doesn't make since," Sayid said, more to himself. "Danielle said, 'we were coming back from Black Rock'."

"There is no Black Rock," Shannon said again, iritable.

"Look at the notes," Sayid urged, shoving them towards her, "see what you can make of them."

Shannon began to read, muttering to herself. Halfway down the page, she began shaking her head.

"I can't-"

"You can," Sayid said, sitting up, "just try. Concentrate!"

"Okay, okay!" Shannon gave in.

She repeated the message over and over, trying to make it click in her head, and she was still doing it twenty minutes later. Footsteps came behind them, and though they didn't see it, they belonged to Sawyer.

"She's saying 'Dear diary, we've been here an entire freakin' month. Something tried to attack us. Didn't see it. Tried to run, but Brendan took the keys. Tried to may day it out, no one heard. Tried to get them to Black Rock.' Little to know she would murder them all a month later."

Sayid looked at Sawyer.

"How did you know that?" He demanded.

"Dictionary," Sawyer said, throwing it to Shannon, "apparently fate don't like us. Sure could've used that forigner two weeks ago."

Shannon flipped through the French/English dictionary. Without saying anything, Sawyer walked off. Shannon ran her hand through her hair and fought back a yawn.

"Why don't we continue in the morning?" Sayid suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Shannon said, closing the dictionary, "I'm going back to the beach. We're moving in tomorrow."

"I'll go with you," Sayid offered, the idea of Shannon being hurt and it being all his fault in his head. He realized then that he already cared about this woman, someone he really did not even know.

"Whatever," Shannon shrugged, getting up.

Sayid was walking back to the caves when he noticed Sawyer's temporary shelter. Only one chair was left there now beside some clothes and a lighter. He looked closer. On the chair was a book that Sayid hadn't noticed he'd been reading. Sawyer picked it up and looked at the title by the little flashlight he had: _Watership Down_.

Setting the book back down, Sayid noticed an envelope that had fallen out of it, landing gracefully on empty cigaret box. He bent down,glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and picked it up. Standing up and taking a last look around, curiosity got the better of him, and Sayid began reading the letter. As he did, he stiffened, shocked by what he was reading..

He had run straight to the caves, and found Jack alone in the medicine cave, searching through the meds.

"We've got a problem," Sayid said, entering.

He had startled Jack, who spun around. Jack had obviously not wanted anyone to bother him. Sayid stopped, trying to catch his breath.

"What?" Jack asked, looking at him.

Sayid shook his head, bending down with his hands on his knees. He finally stood up straight, and handed Jack the envelope and letter. Jack took it, and began reading..

**Note: **Someone finding Sawyer's letter is a plot that I think isn't done enough in fanfics, and should be done in the series. I had fun with it, and hopefully you'll stick around and read it. The next story is Boone-centric, and it deals with an old 'spoiler' that never made it on screen- who's on the mind alternating meds that are running out? Thanks to those who reviewed, I really appreciate it:rockon:


End file.
